Players School of Music and the Assanine Rates

I dont know much about these type of things, mainly because Ive never been or shopped around for them. But I was checkin out the Players Schoo of Music and I dunno, the rates seemed a bit assanine to me, way to pricey I think. I could be wrong cos like I said, Ive never looked into something like this. I dont think 80 weeks of college even cost me that much.

It has been my experience that technical and vocational schools--accredited ones with an established reputation and verifiable results (students who graduate, get and keep jobs)--run darned nearly as much as college for the cost. The only savings--if any--is that tech and vocational schools usually don't require four or five years to graduate.

Furthermore, private tech and vocational schools that do not receive a state subsidy must charge high prices just to survive. They have to pay teachers, lease or own buildings, provide lab equipment, pay utilities, and maintenance, advertise to attract students, pay administrative staff, etc and so on. These things just don't come cheap. The expenses of such a school are really not much lower, if at all, than a private college.

A student who goes to a school like the Players' School or BerkLee or The Bass Collective or others is paying also for the prestige of the certificate. Being a BerkLee graduate says something about you, that you have met their stringent requirements and that you meet certain minimum skills that you might not if you attend a cheaper, fly-by-night music school or diploma mill that just churns out students without much regard for high standards.

Thus having a diploma or certificate from a prestigious school may help you make contacts and get gigs that a cheaper, less well known school will never provide for you.

In most things, you get what you pay for. If attending a school as expensive as Players is out of the question for you, maybe studying with a really well known teacher privately such as Dave LaRue would be more affordable, but you still wouldn't have all the advantages of an actual bass school.

A teacher might only be able to offer you bass lessons, but a school could offer keyboard, recording, performance with other musicians, courses on marketing yourself, song writing, orchestration, etc. In other words, you could get the benefit of a much better rounded education.

Another possibility would be to take one of the shorter courses at Players and find out for yourself if you feel it is worth the expense to attend the school for a greater length of time.

You will have to consider, for example, how long it would take you to earn back the $80,000 completing the full course would take you. Could you expect to earn $80,000 as a bass player your first year after graduation or might it take you as long as five?

Lastly. you must want to be a pro bass player earning all your income from playing bass or the cost of attending the school just to be a hobbyist is indeed too expensive.

Lets see...80 weeks for $18,500. That's what, 2.5 (well, 2.5 years minus 10 weeks) years assuming there are breaks for summers? Berklee, for that long, would cost $50,000. If I decide to go to Berklee, with the course of study I plan on taking I'll spend over $100,000. Hell, that's STILL cheap! [] My brother's college is going to be over $200,000.

School is REALLY expensive these days. Believe me, the players school sounds like a hell of a bargain, even before you consider what you'll learn and who will be teaching you!

Yes a friend of mine (drummer). is trying to get into berklee, and he's working to get a bunch of scholarships so he can afford to get in. Look into scholarships, they can really take off a chunk of the tuition, if your good enough. Just work on aditioning for scholarships, there are certain thing u have to do for them, ull have to look into them. Your grades don't count too much, and they don't really look at ur SAT's, but your skill is very important. just keep confidence, maybe u can think about going to a college and then transfering into a school after like year or 2.

Originally posted by James Tippets Yes a friend of mine (drummer). is trying to get into berklee, and he's working to get a bunch of scholarships so he can afford to get in. Look into scholarships, they can really take off a chunk of the tuition, if your good enough. Just work on aditioning for scholarships, there are certain thing u have to do for them, ull have to look into them. Your grades don't count too much, and they don't really look at ur SAT's, but your skill is very important. just keep confidence, maybe u can think about going to a college and then transfering into a school after like year or 2.

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Sorry, is that a response to me? If it is, I don't think I'd qualify for scholarships. Not because I couldn't play well enough to get them, but I don't need them, so I wouldn't want to take them away from someone who does, especially since they only give out so many. There has to be a substantiated need before they'll allow you to audition for it.

As far as getting in, I'm not too worried. I still have 2+ years to woodshed.

Many community and junior colleges have departments of music. Their course plan would last two years. Then you could transfer to a school like Players and possibly be given some credit for your studies and courses at the community college.

I warn you though, the departments of music in such schools may not be exactly what you are looking for. For instance, they might have a heavy emphasis on classical music or jazz and probably don't offer much for someone hoping to play more popular music, country, metal or reggae. I don't know what your goal is.

I'm only suggesting the junior college as a way of saving money. If you can afford Players or BerkLee and want to be a full-time professional bassist when you graduate, I think those would be two excellent schools to consider.

One more thing...about scholarships. Not all are need based. Many are, but some are based on other considerations...talent, skill, exemplary community service or leadership, or any number of reasons. If you were to receive a scholarship based on your talent as a musician, you wouldn't be depriving someone who has less money as the award is given for talent, not financial need.

What the school is trying to do is have some highly talented students enrolled because they lend prestige to the university, especially if they go on to successful careers. That is similar to an athletic scholarship given to highly skilled athletes who will help the school win sports awards and championships, then go on to pro sports.

You should check out such scholarships because why pay more than you have to for your education? Instead put the money saved toward establishing your professional career after you graduate. Afterall, you might have some pretty lean times until you start to get regualr gigs.

I know that Players is going to be cheaper than Berkely or even Juliard. It just took me by suprise that a one week seminar is $750 + the $75 application fee. I was thinking more along the lines of $250 for a week maybe $300 with a $25 application fee.

The junior college is a good idea as well. I actually asked about the music courses offered at ours. Its not what I thought it would be. I was told it was geared twards pianists and would'nt do me much use. So if someones considering that route it definatly pays to get as much detail as possible. The lady at the school gave her whole schpeel and didnt mention that. I had to ask.

the way i see it (ill probably be laughed out of my state for this ) is, what good does it do. i took music isn school and since then ive studied on my own for absolutely nothing, it never cost me a penny.